BTS Silom Line extension to Taling Chan moves forward

BTS Bang Wa may not long remain the end of the western line for the BTS Skytrain system.

Fifteen months after the Silom line’s second extension completed with the opening of BTS Bang Wa, a first public hearing was held for the third extension to will reach northward to the capital’s Taling Chan district, best known for its floating market on Khlong Chak Phra.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced yesterday the hearing won approval from the civil sector and agencies involved and some conditional support from the public.

Next for the project, intended to improve traffic in the Thonburi area, will be conducting a feasibility study to determine its practicality. The early-stage plan calls for breaking ground in 2017, completion in 2019 and operation in 2020, but the system has a poor track record with deadlines. Most extensions have been delayed for many years, usually due to domestic politics.